Hydraulic power apparatus



July 12, 1927 B. A. BRISTOW HYDRAULIC POWER APPARATUS Fj-iled Dec. 19,1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jul -12, 1927. B. A. BRISTOW HYDRAULIC POWERAPPARATUS Filed Dec. 19, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvmun.

Patented July 12, 1927. L

U I i.

' "BiaUcE 'ALrnEn ia tisirowfo'a resonato o 7 r YnRAnLIo rownimirianacpiisi Application filedzifiecemher 19,11924;seriaii arszoooq I L Thechief object in thepresent invention is to devise hydraulic [powerapparatus which is adapted for developing acontinuous output of powerfrom tidal fluctuations and '5 from higher heads of Water, but which mayalso he used in connection with very low heads ofwater in i'iversjwherethe fiow is relatively large. 1

A POI'J'LOD ofthe apparatus employed is alongthe lines 01 that disclosedininy -prior Patent 1,502,901, issued July 29th, l92l but I havefounditdesiralole for my present pur poses to ,inake certain alterations;therein whereby more rapid fopei'ation of the ap pai'atus may beobtained. j

y The apparatus is constructed substantially and illustrated in, theaccompanying draws i igs inwhich 4 a I Fig. l is a plan iew of myapparatus}. Fig. 2 ,a Vertical sectional View of the seaward wall on theline 22.in Fig. 1"; I

- F ig. 3 a similarview taken on' the line 3+3 in Fig. '1;

v Fig. 4 aplan developing units; p y c I Fig. a frontyiew, partly'hrokenaway,

' on line5-5 in Fig/1y f V Fig 6 a diagrammatic View of the electricconti'ol nechanisn and K N 1 F 7 a horizontal section of part of a powerdeveloping unit. 1

i In, the drawingslike numerals'o'f reference indicate correspondingparts'iii the different figures v V I r ,My apparatus comprises storagereservoir rl inv which the tidal waters may be collected at, high 'tideand stored for use in developing power after the tide hasjeloloed, andone or more discharge chambers 2. In the drawings I show two suchdischarge chambers. ,The seaward wall of the storage J reservoir ispiovided w th a series of open iigs 3 through which water ,may enter.These openings are controlled by'gates's,

' which are pivoted'adj-acent'the upper sides. of the openings so thatthey IlOI'll lfilll-ylle in closed position. As the tide rises inf-rontoi the seaward wall, the gatesare one by one 5 forced open bypressureofthe water so that the water enters" the storage reservoirl.A's

soon, however, as the water in the storage reservoir has risensufliciently that there is an equaliwater pressure on bothsides of agate,

that gate will autoinatically close, and I each gate will in turn openand allowTwater to closed and thus 'preyeiit the flow of Water into thedischarge chambers, but as the tide View of one 1 of the power .iorinallly.

guides such :as 11,, inayhe provided within? 1 .br and the wallet thecasing} 9 l I v v solosedposition These gates 6, however are arranged toopen outwardly and therefore the pressure of the tidal watei wi ll holdthem ebbs the pressure of the water withinthe discharge Chaflibr will besufficient to; ar

the gates open to'allowithe' water to escape. T W fihe li ch ree er i mst. necessity, be as highas the highest point i o h eaet erwis fi eran-fin during high tide... V

I ositioned at one side of the receptacle 1 are aseries ofp owerenerating units 7 one of whichis shown in detail iiiFigs 4' andj 5,shown in Fig.5; thehottonispf "these? power generating units aresomewhat hig 161*; than the 'hottonis of the ,chanihersj into which theydischarge; Thesev power generah i ig units are supported on suitablesupports 8. These power enerating unitsaife' shown ;j

locatedin one en of the reseryoirlfandare H entirely submerged in theWater, as ind cated n Each power" generating. f unit 7 coi iprises" acasing 9Qtlie top o'f whichiis considerably 7 lower than theitoplof thesides of the reser' j I voir 1 and intowhich water is adapted to flow,from aho-ve the said reservoir" 1 wheiiflflfl the Waten'in the latter[is-higher than the,

walls of the casings 91 verticallylinovable in thiseasing isthepoweriieniher lOwhieh is formed as callpiston-lilie'fioatgjS'uitahletheeasing for maintaining the'powei e mher n pos t on, and-preventing-it'r etional contact hetweenthe s des of llhG POWQfIii eIIl- Y Power isgenerated ineaiis; of apparatus 1 w actuated by fthe po wei ni'einhewhit causedito n oye up and down'by alternately 1 allowing water fromthereservoir to enter the casing 9 and then allowingsaid water toescape.

, The power member -is formedof a skeleton framework .havin a pluralityof openings therein, each ofw ich openings is provided one side. of theopening with a gate 12 pivoted on the framework at These gates willpreferably be built of such material orof such construction-that theyare in themselves slightly buoyant, and

I have a tendency to move to opeirposition,

but to ensure that they will open when de sired I preferably form acrank 13 on each pivot member, which cranks are pivotally connected witha connecting'rod 14. These 7 connecting rods are connected with crankdisks 15 rotatably mounted on the skeleton framework Springs 44, eachconnected at one end to the framework and at its other endtoa'disk, tendto rotate the disks when wound up, and thus actuate the connecting rodsto open the gates 12. These springs,

however, must of -necessity be very light, as otherwise they wouldinterfere too much with the'closing of the gates.

, For the purpose of closing the'gates I form on the'crank disks 15projections 16, which projections engage stops 17 secured to the casing,which causes sutficient rotation of the crank disks to close the gatesjust as the power member reaches the limit of its upward't'raveh Thisrotation of the disks 15 1 causes the springs to be wound up. 7

As above suggested power is developed on the downward travel of thepower member 10, and, in order that the water'may be quicklyfempti'edfrom'the casing below the v power member, to cause the rapid fall of thepower member under the weight of' the water 7 above it, I provide thebottom of the casing 9 which I will'now describe. This closurewithspecial quick-opening closure means,

' 7 means comprises a series of pivoted gates 18.

These gates are rabbeted'at the upper and 7 lower corner of either sideand adapted to co-operate with similar rabbeting in the bottom' of thecasing in the adjoining gate. The

V the gate swings.

pivot points are so arranged that when the gates are in closed positiona substantially equal. portion of the upper surface of the gate lies ateach side of the axis on which The gate pivots are provided with cranks19, which cranks are all pivotally connected with a connecting rod 20,whichtis actuated by means'of a crank disk21.driven from an electric;motor 22.

Stops 23'are, however, provided to limit the movement of the gates118.-This motor 22 is controlled by means of thefollowing m'echa- 'nism.Vertically movable in a guide 24 formed in the wallet the casing 9is aswitch actuating member 25. The inner end ,ofthis member is in the pathof the power member 10, so that asfthe power member rises the member 25will be lifted, but this member will not fall of its own accord with thepower member because of the friction with the guide 24 in which it isfitted, I may if desired provide other means for retaining the switchmember 25 in its lifted position. I provide on the power member the rod26,

which rodis provided with a shoulder 27,

which is adapted to engage and move the member '25'do-wnwardly just asthe power member reaches the limit of its desirable downward movement.The other end ofthe switch-actuating member 25 as it'moves upwardlyis'adapted'to close a S it h 2 in th prises a float 29 located i arecess 30 at side of-the casing, 9. A 'stem 8l extends through the topof this recess, which'stem .actuates a lever 32 outside the recess,which in turn is adapted to actuate a switch 33. It

will thusbe seen that as the float 29 falls the ves switch is closed andas it risesthe switch is opened. This switch is located in a secondcircuit 35 in which the motor 22' is located.

In the circuit 34 is located a switch 36 which is'adapted to break saidcircuit 3a when the gates 18 have'been opened, whilein the circuit 35 islocated a switch 37 which is adapted to break the circuit 35 when thegates-18 have been closed. Preferablythese I I switches 36 and 37 areoperated simultaneously, that is to say, when the switch 36 is openedthe switch 37 is closed and vice versa. These switches 3 6 and 87 areoperated by means of projections on the crank disk 21, the projection 88actuating said switches when the gates 18"have reached the closedposition and the projection '39 actuating said switches when the gates18 have reached the fully opened position. a

charge chambers to'be empty and the power members on their loweredposition, as the tide rises, the reservoir 1 fills with water,

and when the water in the reservoir 1v reaches a suflicient height thewater will overflow into the casings 9 of the power generating units;The power member 10,

as the result of its buoyancy, naturallyrises,

itsgates 12 being in open position, When of upward movement, theprojections 16 on I the power member 10 about reaches its limit thecrank disks 25 engagefthe stops 17 and the crank disks caused to revolveand the gates 12 are thus closed. Simultaneously with the closing of thegates 12, the switch The operation of the apparatus is as follows.Assuming the reservoir. and dis- :tctuziting member. 25xhasbeenactuated: to

rclose theflswitch 28 and thecircuit 3% closed and theemotor setinjmotion andthus the gates. lSfare openedhcAs soon as the crank dish-21has moved 'suthciently to openthe gates 18, the profj ection; 38' opensthe switch .36, and; themotor is thus stopped, while the same time theswitch 37 is closed. I I

l;l 1e water is then escaping'through' the bottom or the casing aand onaccount of the pressure above it the, power member descends. WhenthewaterbelOw the power meiiiberfhas dropped suiiiciently low, the float29 drops, "and through its connections the switch 33 is closed and themotor set in 7 operation to close'thegate's. Upon the gates bemgjclosed,the switch 37 is opened by ineansot the projection 39 to shut down themotor, while at thefsametime the switch 36 is clos'ed, andthepowermember is once more in position to again go through the operaton aforesaid.

The water discharged from the power generating'unit passes ilIltO thechambers ample, a shaft to on which a pulley 41 is secured, which pulleyis rotated by means of a belt or rope 42 having a weight 43 on one endthereof. The other end of'this belt or rope is secured to cables securedat different points to the power-member 10. The main purpose of theweight 43 is merely to coun' terbalance the weight of the cables itwhenthe power member moves upwardly.

While I do not desire to restrict myself, I deem it important that therange of vertical movement of the crib be less than the available fall.For instance, I consider that a ran e of movement of about two feet-isbest no matter what the available head may be. I

As thepower member 10 will probably not drop as fast as the water belowit escapes on account of being held by the belt 42, I preferably providemeans for allowing air to enter the space below the power member.

This means comprises a vent comprising members 1-5 and 46 adapted totelescope on one another. The member 45 through to the lower side of thepower memher and the member as extends through the side of the casing 9to the outer air. This vent also provides means for the escape of casingis being refilled.

It will thus be seen that I have devised exten ds apparatus by means ofwhich a suitable quantity of water may be stored and thus used togenerate power until thenext. ofthe' subsequent tide.

What-I claim is; 1 '1 hydraulic power] communicating with saidreservoir;

evice comprising i a I rvoir. having s desand a bottom; a. 'cnamber- W.7); L 1 Y ,.I 1 Y .I a o voi. member "vertically movable nsaid chamber,said'power member having apastherethrough, said chamber having anoutlet-in its bottom; gates controlling said Q plurality of gate membersm the bottom and" controll ng said 2. A hydraulic power devicecomprising a reservoir having sides and a bottom; a ClliLHl I bercommuncating with said reservoir; a

power member vertically movable in said chamber, power: member "having.a

passage thereth'rough, said chamber having an outlet in its bottom;gates controlling reservoir having sides and a bottom; a chambercommunic-atmg with said reservoir; a

said passage; a plurality. of gatememberspivoted in the bottom andcontrolling said outlet; and operating means-connecting said powermember vertically movable/in said chamber, saidpower member having apassage therethrough, sa1d chamber having an] outlet in its bottomgatescontrollingsaid passage; a plurality of gateinembers piv oted inthe bottom and controlling said out- I let; .operatin means connectingsaid-v last mentioned gate'members whereby they may be simultaneouslyactuated; means for set ting in motion said operating means to (open thegates just asthe power member reaches i the limit of ts upward-movement; and 1 .means. for setting inymotion said operating means toclose the last mentioned gate membersas the power member approaches thelimit of its downward movement.

4. A hydraulic power device comprising a 7 reservoirhaving sides and abottom; a chamber communicating w th said. reservoir; a

power member vertically movable in said chamber, said power memberhaving a pas sagetherethrough, said chamber havingan outlet in itsbottom; gates controlling said passage; e plurality of gatememberspivoted 1n tne bottom and controlling said outlet;

operating. means connecting said last men-1' tionedlgate,members wherebythey may be simultaneously actuated; means actuated by the power memberfor setting in motion said operating means to open the last mentioned Igate members ust as the pOWer member l t I an alter the gates 18 areclosed and the reaches the limit of its upward movement;

7 and float-controlled means for setting in momentioned gate members asthe power member approaches the limit of its downward movement.

5. A hydraulic power device comprising a reservoir having sides and abottom; a chamber commumcatlng with sand reservoir; a I power 'membervertlcally movable 1n sald chamber, said power member having a passagetherethrough said chamber having an outlet in its bottom; gatescontrolling said passage; and a plurality of gate members pivoted in thebottom and controlling said outlet, the axes on which the last mentionedgate members swing being substantially midway of the upper surface ofthe last mentioned gate member when in closed posi- 7 tion.

6. A hydraulic power device comprising a reservoir having sides and abottom; a chamber in communication with said reservoir; a power membervertically movable 1n said chamber, said power member having a passagetherethrou'gh, said chamber having an outlet in its bottom; gatescontrolthe upper surface of the ling said passage; and a plurality'ofgate members pivoted in the bottom and controlling said outlet, saidlast mentioned gate members having rabbeted sides at the upper and lowercorner of. either side adapted-to co-operate with'the rabbeted sides ofthe adjoining gate member, the axes on which the gates swing beingsubstantially'midway of gate members when in the closed position. i

7. A hydraulic power device comprising a reservoir having sides and abottom; a chamber in communication with said reservoir a power membervertically movable in said i chamber, said power member having agatecontrolled passage therethrough, said chamber having an outlet inits bottom; and a plurality of gate members pivoted in the bottom andcontrolling said outlet; and. means for admitting air beneaththe power

